1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to beverage can sanitation, and more specifically to an apparatus for cleaning the top of a beverage can, particularly when dispensed by a vending machine.
2. Description of Related Art
Vending machines are ubiquitous, and they can provide anything from cigarettes and beverage cans to cell phones. While vending machine technology, and specifically beverage can vending machine technology, has stabilized, there remains no adequate solution for providing beverage cans with a drinking surface that is generally clean of debris.
To address this issue, it was previously proposed to clean beverage cans immediately after the beverage can top was affixed to the beverage can. A problem with this approach is that the beverage cans would need to be vertically oriented for the cleaning mechanism to have any effect. Moreover, during packaging, transportation and vending, there are many opportunities for the beverage can top to become contaminated.
One proposed solution to this problem was to provide a mechanism that would vertically orient beverage cans from the horizontal position. A problem with this approach was that the beverage cans might be oriented with the opening facing down, thus undermining the success of the resultant cleaning. Again, after cleaning, these cleaned cans would have the opportunity to become dirty once again.
Another approach was to clean beverage cans with water that has been treated with various chemicals. A problem with this approach is that is no consideration of where the can opening is located, and cleaning of the can other than its drinking surface (can top, typically) is wasteful.
Another approach was to use an apparatus that sprayed air onto the top of the can, the apparatus having vents that allow the sprayed air to exit the area around the can opening. Again, the problem with this approach is that, in order for the apparatus to function correctly, another device needs to identify and correctly orient the can opening.
Therefore, it is readily apparent that there is a need for an apparatus that will selectively clean the top of beverage cans.